Land Use 2025 - RhodeMap RI

PART TWO: WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE IN TWENTY YEARS?2-1 The VisionRhode Island of 2025 will be a unique and special place, influenced by its proximity tothe Boston metropolitan area, but separate from it. The State’s landscape will retain itsdistinctive character. Its history, tradition, and compelling natural beauty will prevail asits hallmarks. Land use patterns and development design will distinguish its diversecommunities and celebrate the authenticity of its special places.Having contained sprawl, the State’s urban form will be a pattern of concentrations.People and their endeavors will continue to be largely concentrated in traditionallocations. Dense centers of varying scales, both traditional and new, will be the focalpoints of housing, commerce, and social interaction.Greater Providence – at the head of the Bay – will be the region’s premier center, a vitaland self-renewing core for people and culture. Other cities, town centers, and villageswill be centers for the State’s major sub-regions or individual communities. Networks ofefficient transport and services will connect and support the major centers. New, plannedcenters will emulate the character of traditional communities at locations newlyadvantaged by regional transport hubs. All centers will exemplify quality design, andembody vibrancy, livability, and sustainability.Rhode Island in 2025 will also be green and blue. A thinly settled, predominantlyforested band in the western third of the State will conserve essential resources andsupport resource based economies. These Borderlands, with adjoining conserved areas ineastern Connecticut provide a distinctive ‘break’ in the otherwise developed Boston toWashington northeast corridor. Conserved farmland and forests will surround centers,with the built environment infused by greenways and greenspace. The State’scenterpiece, the Bay, will be healthy and productive. Where land meets water, thewaterfront edge will remain the State’s trademark, carefully managed to provide utilityand activity, while preserving the beauty of its natural features.In 2025, Rhode Island will be a place that strikes the proper balance between the needs ofits people and the protection of its unique environmental resources. It will be a placewhere present and future generations may enjoy the benefits of the State’s natural beauty,engage the world through a productive economy, and retain a connection to their pastwhile embracing a prosperous future.Land Use 2025: Rhode Island State Land Use Policies and Plan (April 2006) 2-1